Stakeholder management is a complex responsibility of a product owner. It is challenging for a product owner to handle multiple stakeholder requests. They come from different sectors, and they may have different priorities. It is the responsibility of the product owner to gather input from multiple stakeholders and prioritise the work based on the value delivered. The current article is about how product owners manage multiple stakeholders’ requests.
Understand Stakeholder Needs and Motivations:
The product owner should understand the needs and motivations of stakeholders to handle their inputs effectively. The product owner should communicate with stakeholders and listen to their concerns to effectively handle different priorities. The product owner should establish clear communication channels to make the stakeholders understand the product development process so that they can understand the way of prioritising requests.
Apply a Structured Prioritisation Framework:
When the product owner has multiple requests from the stakeholders, they should apply a structured prioritisation framework. The process involves evaluating each request by assigning a weighted score to each product backlog using two different methods.
• Value vs. Effort: In this method, the product owner will evaluate the value of the request by focusing on the product backlog that has high value and low effort.
• Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF): The product owner can also prioritise stakeholder requests based on business value, time, and effort to be invested.
By using these prioritisation frameworks, the product owner can make decisions aligned with objectives and transparent criteria rather than individual opinions. They can polish their skills further by making the choice of CSPO certification course.
Align with Business Goals
Prioritising stakeholder requests is not about going by urgency. It is about aligning priorities with the organisation’s goals. The product owner should analyse how each request contributes to the project outcome.
Treat all stakeholders equally.
The role of the product owner is multifaceted; they handle multiple responsibilities in a day, like handling sprint reviews, writing product backlogs, and many more. One of the effective ways to manage multiple requests from the stakeholders is not to treat every stakeholder equally. A stakeholder in the organisation may include customers, managers, end-users, and even the development team. The highest priority should be given to stakeholders like customers or product users, as they have a strong interest in using your products. The product owner should be able to differentiate the most important and not-important stakeholders and spend significant time with them to understand their needs. The approach of dividing the stakeholders based on their importance helps the product owner spend their time wisely in prioritising the requests.
Don’t manage stakeholders individually
Managing different stakeholders individually costs a lot of time for the product owner. Instead, the product owner can conduct a demo session for the group of stakeholders and demonstrate new product features to them so that they can collaborate and take a decision on the next proactive steps that can be taken to improve product value. They invite a group of stakeholders to work out some new product features and do market validation. This helps the product owner save a great deal of time in handling stakeholder requests.
Act like an owner.
Product owners generally do not have mandates. Their job role involves constant permission to develop new features, resolving issues and spending time on technical debt. The professional can act and become an entrepreneurial product owner when they present themselves as a product owner to the stakeholders. It determines the mandate you receive in the product development process. The product owner who is developing the product should demonstrate responsibility by making their own plans and taking care of the team.
Upfront communication
Product owners will have a good idea about what works well for the project and what does not. They should learn to say no to the stakeholders. The product owner should learn to say no to the stakeholders for certain decisions when needed.
Make your plan.
As said, product owners should demonstrate their ability to plan and build the product rather than become a part of someone else’s plan. You should create your own plan to make the product successful. The product owner should create a plan, follow it, and track back when they deviate from it.
Involve a scrum master or the agile coach.
The product owner may often find it challenging to manage stakeholders, and they can take the help of the Scrum Master and agile coach. They can offer the needed help in managing multiple stakeholder requests about the development process. They help you keep getting control of things in agile environments. The scrum master and agile coach can help the product owner guide the stakeholders and establish new approaches to gain control in the agile environment.
Set Expectations.
The product owner should set expectations for the stakeholders by understanding their needs and expectations for the project. They should be able to understand the project outcomes, when they will be delivered, and the underlying reasons for making certain decisions.
Conclusion
Product owners should understand the importance of managing stakeholder requests and learn best practices. The product owners should be involved in the structured prioritisation process by understanding their needs and aligning with structured frameworks. Each decision should be aligned with project objectives to ensure it delivers maximum value.
